


The Fall

by SadinaSaphrite



Series: Through the Years [5]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Buckle up, Explosion at Swiss Headquarters, Fall of Overwatch, M/M, Mild Language, Reaper76Week 2018, The Zurich Fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-06 19:02:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13417635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SadinaSaphrite/pseuds/SadinaSaphrite
Summary: Overwatch was falling apart. Most of their friends were retired or dead, public opinion was at a record low, and both Jack and Gabe were scheduled to be put on trial for the London Uprising incident and the crimes Blackwatch had committed. Jack thought things couldn't get worse.He was wrong.*   *   *   *   *The Zurich Fight.Day Five of Reaper76 Week 2018 - Downfall





	The Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Gosh, this was supposed to be so much more grand than it turned out to be. Damn it all, these 1,600 words don't do justice to what I had imagined. One day I'll go back and rewrite this entire week's worth of fics. For now, enjoy the Downfall of Overwatch.

Where the hell was everyone? 

Jack hadn’t seen a single soul ever since his plane touched down six minutes ago. He’d been heading to his office, but when he couldn’t find even one living person in the normally busy Watchpoint: Zurich, he took a detour to roam through hallway after empty hallway, trying to see if he could find someone. Anyone. 

Fifteen minutes and not a single soul in a base that employed hundreds of staff. 

“Athena,” he growled into an empty room. “Please tell me everyone’s getting ready to throw me a big surprise party.”

The AI didn’t respond.

“Athena, where is everyone?”

Silence.

“This is Strike Commander Jack Morrison, Overwatch Agent 001, Security Code OW0920-76. Computer: Athena, respond!”

“Computer Intelligence Athena is deactivated in present location, Strike Commander,” a synthetic voice responded, far more computerized than Athena’s oddly human-like tone. 

“Who…er…what are you?” Jack asked. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

“I am CPU-486322. My personality was automatically activated upon Computer Intelligence Athena’s departure.”

“Where did Athena go?” Jack’s stomach churned with unease and he drew his Beretta, moving slowly through the base like he was clearing a hostile building. 

“Computer Intelligence Athena downloaded all processing units into the servers at Watchpoint: Gibraltar at 04:32 this morning.”

“Why?”

“Computer Intelligence Athena was ordered to vacate Watchpoint: Zurich.”

“Where is everyone?”

“All agents and staff were ordered to vacate Watchpoint: Zurich.”

“The building is empty? It’s just you and me?”

“Negative, Strike Commander Morrison.”

Jack froze. “Who else is in the building with us?”

“Employee-2452: Müller. Employee-3211: Favre. Employee-2422: Schmid. Employee-3042: Anderson. Employee-” 

The computer continued to drone on, listing employee numbers and surnames. Employees, not Agents. Probably mostly cleaning staff, locals who didn’t get the memo to not come in to work today.

“-2214: Federer. Agent-002: Reyes.”

_Gabe._

“Computer, who ordered the building to evacuate?”

“Agent-002: Commander Gabriel Reyes.”

“Where is he?”

“Commander Reyes is currently located on level B2 in Conference Room A.”

Jack sprinted for the elevators. He didn’t put his sidearm away. 

“What reason did he give for the evacuation?”

“Unstable radioactive material spill, creating radioactive contamination present through all levels of the building.”

“What is the current radiation level?” The elevators weren’t working. Someone with an intimate knowledge of sabotage had cut the power. Goddammit, Gabe. What was he doing?

“There is no abnormal level of radiation present.” 

Jack cursed and sprinted down the stairs, running out into the second level basement. He found Gabe leaving the conference room.

“Jack,” Gabe said, pulling up short and looking at Jack with wide eyes. He was wearing civilian clothing with both his hands stuffed in the pockets of his large, leather overcoat. “I thought you were in New York.”

“The U.N. decided to postpone my hearing and I was sent back here. I get to spend another week here before they court martial me and lock me away. You know. For hiding all the shit you’ve been doing with Blackwatch? All the shit I promised you weren’t doing? Speaking of ‘what the hell are you doing,’ I love what you’ve done with the place. A bit empty, though,” Jack growled. There was no humor in his voice.

“You need to leave, Jack. Now.” Gabe’s eyes flicked briefly to the gun still in Jack’s hand, before going to move past him, heading for the stairwell.

“Oh, no you fucking _don't,_ ” Jack caught him by the arm. “Not until you tell me what the fuck you’re doing.”

“Jack, don’t do this. Not now,” Gabe shrugged out of his grip and kept walking, kicking the stairwell door open.

“Yes, now!” Jack followed as Gabe stomped up the concrete stairs. “You are going to tell me what’s going on, right here, right now. It’s the least I deserve after hanging myself protecting you from all the bullshit you and Blackwatch were up to! Are _still_ up to, apparently! What secret mission do you have your hit-squad on now?”

“There is no Blackwatch. Not anymore.”

Jack stared at Gabe’s retreating back, but Gabe didn’t so much as look back, hands still firmly in his pockets as he made his way up the stairs. 

“What did you say?”

“Blackwatch is finished. I’ve dissolved the team. Did it weeks ago. What few Agents I had left are already in the wind.”

“…Why? Just…why? Why are you doing this?”

“Because Overwatch is finished,” he said, finally turning to look at Jack as he reached the landing of B1. His dark eyes burned with an intensity that took even Jack by surprise.

“Gabe, no. Don’t say that. Overwatch isn’t done. We can still fix this.”

“Oh?” Gabe rounded on him. “Still think we’re heroes, Jack? The whole world has turned against us. People are protesting us in the streets. We’re both up for hearings with the U.N. and will likely be facing jail time. And it’s not like we’re doing any good! Human and omnic relations are only getting worse, international crime is on the rise, Talon is stronger than ever, and half the world’s governments won’t even let us operate in their countries anymore! We’re a bloated corpse of what we used to be, Jack. It’s time for it to end.”

There was a finality in his final statement that put Jack’s hair on end. “…Gabe…what are you doing here?”

“I’m cutting the head off the snake.”

“That didn’t answer my question.”

“You need to leave, Jack.”

“I can’t just leave!”

“You should!” Gabe snapped. “You should get the hell out of here and run while you can! You think they’re just gonna throw you in some prison for a few years and let you back out? Jack, if the U.N. finds you guilty of being involved with any of the shit we did in Blackwatch, they’ll hang you. Hell, they’ll hang you anyway. They’re looking for a scapegoat, and that’s _us._ ”

“ _Gabriel,_ ” Jack’s voice dropped into a snarl, low and dangerous. “Answer the _fucking_ question. What are you _doing_ here?”

Gabe didn’t answer, and Jack looked at him closely. His shoulders were tight and his posture stiff, a vein ticking in his neck, and Jack finally noticed that Gabe still hadn’t removed his hands from his pockets.

“What do you have, Gabe?” He didn’t remember doing it, but his handgun was aimed at Gabe’s chest.

Gabe’s eyes flicked briefly to the gun pointed at him, then slowly pulled his right hand out of his pocket. In his palm was a smooth, black rectangular box with a short antenna and a bright red button on the end, protected by a clear flip-top cap.

“A detonator?” Jack hissed. “You’re going to blow the headquarters?”

“I’ve got to end it, Jack. Overwatch is done with. We’re doing more harm than good, and it has to end.”

Jack grabbed the front of Gabe’s coat with his free hand.

“There are still people in this building, Gabe! You can’t do this!”

“I have to! We’re poisoned, Jack! We’re being corrupted from inside and out! We’ve got Talon spies in our ranks, Overwatch agents selling secrets to the highest bidder, and if you think Petras is clean, you’ve gone fucking blind. He’s on someone’s payroll, and it’s not one of the Good Guys.”

“What about you, Gabe?” Jack tightened his grip on the coat. “Whose payroll are you on?”

Jack had snarled the question out of anger, but gave pause as Gabe wasn’t immediately forthcoming with an answer. Gabe looked away and Jack’s blood ran cold.

“…Gabe?”

“Walk away, Jack. You don’t want to know,” he said softly.

“No. No, I am sick and tired of you keeping me in the dark while I put my neck on the line for your sake. Who the _fuck_ are you working for, if not me?”

“Jack…”

“Who is paying you to blow up Overwatch headquarters?”

“It needs to happen. Overwatch needs to die.”

“ _Gabriel._ ”

Jack jerked Gabe closer, the Beretta pressing into his chest, and he finally looked Jack dead in the eye.

“…Talon.”

Jack let him go in shock and took a half step backward. 

“No…no…Gabe, no…”

“I’m not with them, Jack! This is the right thing to do!”

“How can you say that? After all that’s happened. Everything they’ve done. Everything we’ve been through together. After Gerard. After _Ana._ You…you traitor!” Jack was aiming with both hands now, shifting into an offensive stance, though the pistol shook in his hands.

“No! No, I…” Gabe made a growl of frustration and held the detonator tighter. “Dammit, Jack! Talon’s got its claws so deep in Overwatch that we’ll never break free! This is infiltration, damn you! This is what I _do!_ Talon is spread too far and rooted too deep! Our best chance to take them down is from the inside!”

“What, like how you’re taking us down? Shit, Gabe! Are you even hearing yourself? You’re not infiltrating Talon, you’re being played by Talon! You’re being paid by a terrorist organization to blow up our headquarters and all the innocent people still in it! There are still civilians upstairs! Civilians!”

“It has to happen. I didn’t want you involved.”

“Well, too late. I’m involved now. Hand over the detonator.”

“I can’t do that, Jack.”

“Give it to me!”

Gabe flicked the clear cap off the detonator’s button and Jack felt a chill run through him. Gabe wouldn’t do it, would he? They were both still in the building. The stairwell was walled by solid concrete, but would that really be enough to protect them?

“No,” Gabe’s voice was even, and there was a conviction in his voice that froze Jack’s soul.

“Drop it,” Jack said. He aimed at Gabe’s heart, the heart that once belonged to him, and his hands no longer shook. “Don’t make me do this, Gabe. Please.”

“I don’t ask forgiveness. But I’m sorry.” 

Reyes pressed the button. Morrison pulled the trigger. Neither could say who acted first. 

Two hearts cracked down the middle as the base crumbled around them, and hours later, two broken men crawled from the rubble, alone, leaving their lives behind in the ruins of Overwatch.

**Author's Note:**

> Tomorrow's is gonna be better, I promise. Hit me up at [Tumblr!](http://dabbledrabbleprose.tumblr.com)


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